Houston is a city built on its rich culture and diversity. It’s the city’s strength, not weakness. Yet right now, ICE raids and heavy-handed tactics are tearing families apart and pushing communities into the shadows. 

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As mayor, Neeloy will put an end to ICE’s incursion on Houston. Within his first hundred days, Neeloy will introduce an ordinance making it crystal clear: no city department, including HPD, will waste local resources doing ICE’s job. He will direct the City Attorney’s office to challenge unlawful ICE detainers in court and prohibit city jails from holding people beyond their release dates at ICE’s request. Neeloy knows the state may sue over this ordinance, and he welcomes that fight. Texas has a long history of using the courts to enforce unjust systems, and just as Jim Crow laws had to be challenged in courtrooms before they could be dismantled, Neeloy sees a state lawsuit not as a threat, but as an opportunity: a chance to put ICE's conduct in Houston on the public record and to build the legal precedent that finally holds the agency's presence in our city accountable.

 

Further, 10% of the budget allocated to the HPD will be used to launch a domestic defense sub-division to ensure that the families of Houston stick together. This division of the HPD will see the creation of rapid response teams that provide emergency assistance to families impacted by raids, including legal referrals, promoting more safety than would be spent on needless overtime pay for the HPD. Finally, to prevent backdoor cooperation with ICE, Neeloy will implement data privacy protections so that city records like school enrollments, utility accounts, or medical visits cannot be exploited to target families.

 

This is a matter of Houston’s identity. In Houston, no parent should be afraid to pick their child up from school. No worker should hesitate to ride the bus. No family should live in fear of being torn apart. Under Neeloy’s leadership, Houston will no longer be a hunting ground for ICE, but a safe haven where every family belongs and every voice matters.

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